HTC probably made the best phone no one will want to buy

The new HTC 10. Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech Insider HTC missed its chance to be stand tall with the biggest smartphone makers.

Until 2011, it was widely regarded as the best Android phone maker, and its sales were jumping as it looked like the only viable alternative to the iPhone.

But Samsung saw an opportunity and seized it, essentially buying its huge market share through aggressive marketing and using its own lucrative chip business to make many of the components for its phones. The relatively small HTC didn't stand a chance.

Year after year, HTC released really nice and well-reviewed phones that never sold well compared to the iPhone or Samsung's extensive line of Galaxy phones. It was one of the saddest stories in tech — a focused company making excellent devices that just never took off with a broad range of consumers. Bummer.

HTC seems to have come to grips with that reality this year with the release of its newest flagship phone, the HTC 10. It's a gorgeous device, even better looking than the iPhone. It also has an impressive camera, sharp display, and clean software that isn't bloated down with extras like most Android phones are.

It's a tech geek's dream. But it also signals a shift for HTC, which is no longer chasing the dream of catching up to Samsung and Apple. At $699 unlocked (you can buy it through 12 monthly payments from HTC too), the HTC 10 is $50 more expensive than the iPhone 6s. AT&T, the second-largest carrier in the US, won't even be selling the 10 in stores.

Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech Insider

At best, the HTC 10 is a niche device, similar to Google's line of Nexus phones. It's not going to sell millions, but it will appease Android purists who want the best of the best. It's the Tesla of Android phones — not for everyone, but appealing for those who value premium over anything else.

"All the ingredients of an HTC phone makes it great. We have a very pure, very differentiated design," Andre Lonne, HTC's new US president, told me in an interview Tuesday.

He added that individual components like high-end audio and a premium camera will also attract buyers. That doesn't make the HTC 10 a bad device, it just makes it a device for a very special kind of customer.

The HTC 10 doesn't have the ingredients for a mass-market product, and I doubt we'll ever really see one from HTC again. In the meantime, the company is chasing the next big thing through its HTC Vive VR headset and fitness technology through its partnership with Under Armour.

But when it comes to the smartphone, the most important consumer gadget today, HTC's devices will remain a niche.